Adjustable base for a pair of machines

ABSTRACT

A BASE FOR SUPPORTING A PAIR OF AXIALLY SPACED AND ALIGNED MACHINES AS FOR EXAMPLE A PUMP AND A MOTOR. ONE PORTION OF THE BASE HAS A FIRST INCLINED SURFACE WITH LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOTS THEREIN. A PLATE HAVING A COMPLIMENTARY INCLINED SURFACE IS BOLTED TO THE FIRST INCLINED SURFACE AND THE. SLOTS PERMIT ADJUSTMENT OF THE PLATE TO DIFFERENT VERTICAL POSITIONS. THE PLATE IS ALSO PROVIDED WITH A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED SURFACE HAVING LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOTS. ONE OF THE MACHINES, USUALLY THE MOTOR IS BOLTED TO THIS HORIZONTAL SUR-   FACE AND THE OTHER MACHINE IS BOLTED TO ANOTHER HORIZONTAL SURFACE PROVIDED ON THE BASE. THE LONGITUDINAL SLOTS PERMIT AXIAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE MOTOR RELATIVE TO THE PUMP.

United States Patent [72] inventors Earl L. Koehlke;

Bruce R. Lipe, Cincinnati; Earle E. Schroeder. New Richmond. all of Ohio [21] App1.No. 846,349 [22] Filed July 31, 1969 [45] Patented June 28, 1971 (73] Assignee Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company Milwaukee, Wis.

[54] ADJUSTABLE BASE FOR A PAIR OF MACHINES 2 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

[52] US. Cl 248/23 [51] Int. Cl Fl6m 5/00, F 16m 1 1/04 [501 FleldoiSearch 248/l3,23, 346; 103/218; 269/37; 230/235 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,886.035 11/1932 Mann 248/23 1,984,664 12/1934 Teves 248/23X 2,001,111 5/1935 Rhodesetal. 248/23 3,306,562 2/1967 Bellefleur 248/29X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,109,493 6/1961 Germany 248/23 Primary Examiner-William H. Schultz Attorneys-John P. Hines, Robert B. Benson and Thomas F.

Kirby ABSTRACT: A base for supporting a pair of axially spaced and aligned machines as for example a pump and a motor. One portion of the base has a first inclined surface with [ongitudinally extending slots therein. A plate having a complimentary inclined surface is bolted to the first inclined surface and the slots permit adjustment of the plate to different vertical positions. The plate is also provided with a horizontally disposed surface having longitudinally extending slots. One of the machines, usually the motor is bolted to this horizontal surface and the other machine is bolted to another horizontal surface provided on the base. The longitudinal slots permit axial adjustment of the motor relative to the pump.

PATENTED JUN28 |97l ADJUSTABLE BASE FOR A PAIR OF MACHHNES aligned and spaced from one another. Usually the position of the pump is dictated by the position of the process fluid lines. The motor must then be mounted in alignment with the pump and a flexible coupling is provided to connect the two machine shafts together. Lateral, vertical and axial alignment is required in order to insure proper operation of the machines. The lateral adjustment can usually be taken care of by providing a single base with machine mounting holes in lateral alignment. However, if the same base .is to be used for different sizes of machines, vertical and axial adjustments must be provided in the construction of the base.

It is therefore the intention and general object of this invention to provide a single base for a pair of machines which insures lateral alignment of the machines and permits both vertical and axial adjustment to properly align the machines.

A more specific object of the subject invention is to provide a single base for a pair of machines wherein an inclined surface is provided to permit vertical alignment and axially extending mounting slots are provided to permit axial spacing of the machines.

These and other objects of the subject invention will become more fully apparent as the following description is read in light of the attached drawing which shows an isometric view of a machine base constructed in accordance with the invention with-a pair of machines attached thereto.

Referring to the drawing, the machine base generally designated 6 is provided with a first machine support surface 7 and a second machine support surface 8 axially spaced therefrom. As shown herein for purposes of illustration a pump generally designated 9 is supported on the first machine support surface 7 and an electric motor generally designated 11 is supported on the second machine support surface 8. Mounting holes or means are provided in the support surface 7 to which the pump 9 is mounted. Longitudinally extending slots 12 are provided in the mounting surface 8 for mounting the motor 11. The slots 12 and the pump mounting holes are aligned so that the pump and motor are in lateral alignment when they are supported by the base 6. A series of different pump and motor sizes may be manufactured having identical mounting means so that this base may accommodate a number of different pump and motor sizes and still maintain lateral alignment of the machines.

The base 6 is provided with'an inclined surface 13 having longitudinally extending slots therein 14. A plate 15 has a complementary inclined surface 16 which mates with the inclined surface 13 to position the second machine support surface 8 in a horizontal plane parallel to the support surface 7. Adjusting means in the form of slots 14 and bolts 17 connect the plate 15 to the inclined surface 13.

The base 6 and plate 15 are constructed to insure alignment of the mounting slots 12 and the pump-mounting holes in the machine support surface 7. This permits a number of different pump and motor sizes to be supported by this base in lateral alignment. The only requirement is that the lateral spacing of the machine feet 20 be identical for all machine sizes.'l-lowever, different sizes of machines may likely result in different axial length and vertical height of the machines. Therefore, to align the two machine shafts in the vertical direction, the plate 15 is moved up or down the inclined surface 13 and bolted into place after vertical alignment has been accomplished. Furthermore to assure proper axial spacing between the two machines, the motor can be moved axially in the slots 12 to provide sufficient spacing for a flexible shaft coupling generally designated 18.

- From the above description, it can be seen that a very simplified and yet substantially infinitely adjustable machine base has been provided for a Fair of machines. A sin le base will accommodate a number 0 different sizes of mac mes, so long as the spacing of the mounting feet of the different machines sizes are identical. Differences in vertical height and axial length of the machines can be accommodated by adjustment of the base.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

We claim:

1. A base for supporting a pair of axially spaced machines comprising:

a first machine support surface;

means on said base defining a first inclined plane horizontally spaced from said first machine support surface;

a plate having means defining a second inclined plane complementary to said first inclined plane, said plate having a second machine support surface maintained substantially parallel to said first machine support surface due to the coaction of said means defining said inclined planes;

means for adjustably slidably connecting said means defining said inclined planes to permit selective combined horizontal and vertical adjustment of said second machine support surface relative to said first machine support surface; means for connecting one of the machines to one of said machine support surfaces; and adjustable means for adjustably connecting the other machine to the other of said machine support surfaces to permit selective horizontal movement of said other machine relative to said one machine.

2. The machine base set forth in claim 1 wherein one of said means defining an inclined plane is a surface of said base and the other of said means defining the other inclined plane is a surface of said plate and wherein said adjustably slidably connecting means comprises:

an longitudinal extending alot in one of said surfaces and guide means connected to the other of said surfaces engaging said slot. 

